Crossing the Bridge
by Holyknightsteve
Summary: After the fall of Cruxis, Regal and Raine go on a quest to end world-wide racism. Throughout it all, they develop a special, unbreakable bond between each other. (RegalXRaine, side-story of "Unconditional Love)
1. Forbidden Acts

A/N: The "ayes" have it! "Crossing the Bridge" is now a go! The first chapter will appear to be eerily similar to the first two chapters of "Unconditional Love". It'll show what happened between Regal and Raine during the dance at Meltokio, the events at which will set the scene for the rest of the story.

Somebody might be saying, "Why do a Regal/Raine fanfic?" I dunno. Just seemed like a fairly unique idea and, when you consider my other two ToS stories (all of which are connected to each other), "Unconditional Love" (LloydXSheena) and "A Fun, Easy Life" (ZelosXColette), and GenisXPresea being pretty much a given, that leaves only 3 lonely people left: Regal, Raine, and Kratos. Never before saw a RegalXRaine so… I thought I'd do this. If anyone else knows of another RegalXRaine story, please let me know!

Also, if nothing else, it could serve as a moral lesson. Simply put: Racism is wrong.

Final note: I won't be updating this story as often as Unconditional Love or Star Ocean: Forever and Beyond, so please be patient as I update.

Disclaimer: Blah, you know the deal. I don't own any characters, places, or other ideas from Tales of Symphonia. Namco does. All character, places, and ideas not found in the original game are of my own creation, so I claim ownership to them. So nyah.

Without further ado, on with the show! Enjoy!

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Chapter 1: Forbidden Acts

Raine sat alone along the east wall of the ball room as she watched the other party-goers have fun. She was not usually one for social events such as these but she had come out of respect for not only those who invited her but her other companions as well. It had been quite a while since any of them had had any sort of real fun, so the ball was indeed a pleasant change of pace. Still, she had hoped that the ball would end soon. She would've much rather been sitting at the inn and reading a good book. Besides, the whole time that she had been there, many people, both men and women, had given her strange looks as they passed by her.

She sighed. "I guess nobody here likes half-elves either."

"Hey man, you see that girl over there?" she heard a man from some distance off say.

Without actually turning to face the owner of the voice, she kept looking down but kept one eye on him at all times.

Another man walked over to the first man, possibly a friend. "Who? What are you talking about?"

The first man pointed at Raine. "See that pretty girl with the white hair? Over there along the wall. See her?"

The second man looked in the area that his friend was pointing towards. After searching for a bit, his eyes finally locked on Raine and he whistled. "Whoa, man, she's pretty cute."

Raine couldn't help but smile. It wasn't often that she was called 'pretty' or 'cute' but she always loved it when it happened. While it was true that she didn't care much for the ball itself or dancing in general, she half-hoped that one of the men would come over and ask her dance, despite knowing almost certainly that they were nothing more than lecherous young men. She had seen her little brother dancing with Presea earlier and was admittedly jealous of the fun they were having. She looked a bit more towards the men, trying to show that she had heard what they were saying. She ran her hand through her hair but this proved to be what would drive the men away from her.

The first man clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Awright! I'm gonna go over there and ask her for a dance. Maybe I'll get lucky!" He took only one step forward before his friend placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Eh? What gives? Do ya want her too?"

He shook his head. "Look closely at her."

The first man squinted his eyes at Raine but didn't notice anything right off the bat. Raine stared at him strangely, wondering what he was doing.

"I don't see anything man," he said. "What do _you_ see?"

His friend pointed once again. "Look closely at her ears."

The first man squinted again, and then wore a disgusted look on his face. "They're pointed."

The second man nodded. "Correct. This means that she's either an elf or a half-elf. And since you almost never see a full-blooded elf outside of Heimdall-"

"-then she's a half-elf," said the first man, finishing his friends sentence. He shuddered and turned away from Raine. "Whoa, thanks man."

The second man smiled and slapped his friend's shoulder. "No problem man. Look, I think those girls in the corner were checking us out earlier. Let's go chat with 'em, eh?" With that, the two men walked off.

It took every last bit of Raine's spirit to keep herself from crying. It wasn't the fact that they didn't want to dance with her that was upsetting. She could've cared less about either of the men. Rather, it was the fact they felt that they had made a complete and accurate judgment of Raine just by looking at her ears. They had gone so far as to call her 'cute' and 'pretty', only to retract their statements when they figured out that she was, in fact, a half-elf.

"Were it not for my ears… would they ever know the difference?" she asked herself as she lowered her head.

"People can be so cruel," said a strong, yet calm voice from behind her.

Raine quickly turned her neck and saw Regal standing just behind her right shoulder. "R-Regal! You saw what happened?"

He nodded as he moved in front of her. "Indeed." It was then that he noticed the water that had finally begun to build up in Raine's eyes. "Excuse me for asking Raine, but are you crying?"

Her eyes opened a bit more widely than usual. She reached one hand up to her eyes and wiped away forming tears. "It's nothing. Please don't worry about it."

Regal said nothing for moment. During the awkward silence, Raine bean to slowly turn away from Regal, her tears reforming once again. He already knew why she was upset, but if she didn't want to talk about it, then he didn't want to force her into a conversation, even if it was meant to help her.

Regal knelt down in front of her, bringing himself to be eye-level with the sitting Raine. "Are you sure Raine? If something's wrong, you can tell me. If you don't want to, that's fine. I won't pressure you into it."

Raine said nothing for a moment. She wasn't sure what she was going to do. She wanted so much to be able to talk with anyone who would listen, especially a trusted friend like Regal. However, her professional side was telling her to not bother others with her own troubles. Finally, in a rare occurrence, her heart won over her professional side.

She slowly turned back towards Regal and began to speak once again. "Everywhere I go, whether it's Sylvarant or Tethe'alla, half-elves are looked at in the same way: as people who are no better than criminals. While it is true that there are certainly a high number of bad half-elves, the majority of us are still good people. Why can't people see that?" Tears rolled down her cheek as she pointed to where the men once stood. "You saw what just happened here. Once they found out that I was a half-elf, they wanted nothing to do with me." She lightly brushed her left ear with her corresponding hand. "They would never know if it weren't for these. I wish I would've been born a human or a true elf. Then maybe I wo-"

Regal gently placed his cuffed hands on the shoulders of his companion, the chain in between them dangling only a few inches from Raine's neck. "Please don't ever say that Raine. You're fine just the way you are. Your race has no effect on what matters most: your heart and mind. The way I see it, a human Raine or an elven Raine is no better than the Raine I know."

Raine sniffled and smiled. "Thank you Regal. That's very kind of you." She sighed and the both of them stood up. "I'm sorry Regal, but I need some time to think. I think I'll head back to Zelos' mansion to get some rest."

"Actually Raine," started Regal, "I was wondering if perhaps we could share a dance together. If you're interested, that is."

"W-what?" Raine asked, shocked. She couldn't believe that Regal had asked her for a dance. She knew of Regal's high standing within the Meltokian monarchy and wondered why 'Lord Bryant' would tarnish his reputation by being seen with a half-elf. "But what about everyone else here? Won't they say something if they see you with a half-elf?"

"And if they did?" said Regal. "They should mind their own business. The personal choices I make should in no way be influenced by the opinions of others."

Raine blushed. It was good to know that, even though Regal was a companion, he would not let what everyone else thought get to him as he did something decent for her. "I-I'm afraid that I have no experience in dancing of any sort."

Regal smiled and showed his cuffs to Raine. "And I'm bound in shackles. What excuse have you now?"

Raine giggled for the first time in what seemed like forever. It wasn't often when she used 'girly' laughs like that, but it felt necessary at this point. "Alright then Regal. Thank you."

Extending his right hand as far as he could, he took Raine's left hand in his own and led her to the dance floor. The couple looking very awkward as Regal managed to spread his cuffs far enough to the point where he could place his hands on her hips and Raine extended her skinny arms up to the massive shoulders of Regal. The two chuckled softly as they began to step this way and that, crimson shades of red flooding Raine's cheeks as she did so. Several times throughout the dance, she had accidentally stepped on Regal's feet. She had apologized time and time again for her mistakes but Regal laughed every incident off. "You're doing fine," he would tell her each time.

During the course of one of the songs later in the evening (some time all of their other companions had left, for it was getting rather late), a man had walked up to the couple. "U-um, excuse me Lord Bryant."

Regal looked down at the diminutive man and smiled. "Yes, how can I help you?"

The man looked around nervously and turned back to Regal. "S-sir? You do realize that you're dancing with a half-elf, right?"

Several people around the couple had heard what the man said and, within half a minute, the entire ballroom had heard about what 'Lord Bryant' was doing. A large number of hushed whispers sounded throughout the room as Regal and Raine looked around them. Her face completely red, she buried her head in Regal's fine jacket, trying to hide herself.

Regal never lost his composure nor changed his facial expression and color as he calmly replied to the man, "Yes I do. What of it?"

More whispers. "Well, she… she's a half-elf sir."

Regal nodded. "Yes yes, I heard you the first time. And?"

The small man began to shake nervously, perhaps in fear. "S-sir, it's taboo to associate yourself with a half-elf, especially for someone as distinguished as yourself."

"I'm sorry Regal. I'm sorry Regal," she kept saying in a whisper audible only to herself and Regal.

Regal's eyes narrowed as he began to finally become upset with the man. "The only thing that separates myself and this beautiful lady are a title and the shape of our ears. She is no less of a sentient being than you or me."

The small man began to sweat as several more whispers flooded the room. "L-Lord Bryant, if you are having difficulty in finding a proper dance partner, I can help you-"

"I will have no part in that," said Regal sternly. "I have decided to share a dance with my companion and perhaps have a bit of fun while doing so.

More whispers and, despite the man's obvious nervousness, he began to show a glimmer of anger in his eyes. "Lord Bryant, I'm sorry, but an act such as this is forbidden by Meltokian law. I respect your title, but others higher than yourself who are currently in attendance have described what you are doing as 'disturbing' and nauseating'. They have requested for you to immediately cease what you are doing or leave."

"Hmph," grunted Regal, obviously irritated. "Then I shall leave. Please excuse me." Still holding the hand of the now sobbing Raine, Regal began to make his way toward the door.

Before he passed through it, he noticed a cloaked man standing near the entrance, his features shrouded by the shadow cast by his hood. As Regal passed by him, he could hear the man say, "Wise choice."

Regal shook off his comment and made his way out into the well-lighted street of the wealthy quarter of the city. Still sobbing, Raine did not remove her head from Regal's chest.

He knew not what to say to her in order to make her feel better but knew he had to say something. "I'm sorry that you had to hear that Raine. I did not mean for this to happen. Forgive me."

She shook her head and sniffled. "It's not your fault Regal. I had a wonderful time until that man showed up and said those… those awful things." She sniffled again and raised her head off of Regal's chest. "Regal, I've decided on something."

"What is it?" asked Regal.

She turned around and faced the reception hall. "Once we're done with Cruxis, I'm going to go around the world and do what I can to end racism. Nobody should have to go through something like this."

Regal smiled. "That's a noble quest to take on. Will you be going alone?"

She nodded. "Yes. I don't want to drag Genis into this. He's already been through so much already. He's very intelligent, but he is still just a child, so I have to look out for his well-being."

Regal took a step toward her. "Could I bother you to take me along as well?"

She looked surprised. "You want to come with me? But what about your company?"

He shook his head. "I'm sure George can handle it for a while longer. This is a far greater cause than running a thing as trivial as a business."

Raine smiled, obviously pleased that she would not be alone. "Thank you Regal. I really appreciate it."

"Then it's settled," said Regal who extended his cuffed right hand. Raine took it with her own small hand and shook it.

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And there we go! We have our premise. Next comes the beginning of their quest! And now, I have a little contest of sorts!

Ahem. For his new quest, Regal is going to where something other than his old, ragged prison outfit. I have a few ideas for the new outfit, but I'd like to hear what you all would like to see. If I like it well enough, I'll use your idea! Not only clothes, but hair can be messed with as well, so don't hold back. Also, I'm not sure if I wanna use Raine's normal outfit or not. It's kinda… eh. If you have a good idea for her too, lemme know!

Thanks in advance for any and all reviews!


	2. A New Journey

A/N: I am SO sorry for waiting so long to update this story. I had to take some time off to reassess what all I want to do with what I am currently writing and plan on writing. On the down-side (for me at least), I have decided to put my original Star Ocean story on hold for an indefinite amount of time. On the plus side, this places "Crossing the Bridge" in the #2 slot on my priorities list, putting it just behind "Unconditional Love" in that respect. Although I loved my SO story, I felt that doing this was fairly obvious, considering that in 2 months and six chapters, SO got 14 reviews as compared to Crossing the Bridge's 16 reviews in 2 weeks with only one chapter. I NEVER expected this huge of a turnout for this story so… here we are now. Hope you enjoy the rest of this story!

Thank you all so much for all of the input I received concerning Regal and Raine's new looks. I will reveal in this chapter what I decided to go with. Although I accepted none of the full costumes you suggested at face-value for Regal, I did a little mixing and matching with all of your suggestions. Let's just say that what y'all had to say was better than what I had originally planned. With that said, it's time for "Respond to the Readers":

Raine's OOCness? – Yeah I'm sure I went overboard on this. I wanted to portray it as a sort of "straw that broke the camel's back" kinda deal, but even so, I overdid it. I'll try to revert her to her old self for now. However, as the story progresses, she is bound to soften up gradually.

Zelda's Fox 38 – Haha. Glad you liked it so much. If I knew that this pairing would be accepted like it has been, I woulda done this MUCH sooner. I guess I was just gettin' tired of seeing poor Regal getting left out of so many relationships. We always see Lloyd/ZelosXColette/Sheena (not all together. Match as appropriate), GenisXPresea, and RaineXKratos. Who is poor Regal left with? No one, so this is his chance to shine.

a drive-by reader – I already addressed the first part so I'll address your second comment. I honestly thought Regal's chains were about as long as I portrayed them. If they really aren't, oops.

Rosa – Glad you like the pairing Thank you for the compliment about me getting Regal down right. Of all the chars in ToS, I think I'm more like Regal than anyone else, so this was fairly easy for me.

Thanks to everyone else who R&R'd! I really appreciate it!

With that aside, on with the next chapter!

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Chapter 2: A New Journey

"But why?" Genis asked his sister as she began to pack a traveling pack of supplies for herself. "Why can't I come with you?"

Raine looked over at her little brother with a half-smile. She straightened a few wrinkles in her outfit as she began to speak. "Because you need rest Genis. It's absolutely amazing that you were able to go with us on such a physically taxing journey at such a young age. You've proven your resilience, but you are still growing. If you don't get proper rest, you may disrupt your physical development."

Genis stamped his foot and clenched his fist. "That's one of the most crappy excuses I've ever heard."

Raine huffed and turned back to her pack. "Hmph. It's true though."

Genis tried to soften up a bit as he continued to try and persuade his sister to let him go with her. "Raine, ending racism is important to me too."

Raine nodded as she continued to pack. "I know it is Genis, but this may also be more dangerous than our previous journey was. At least then, Mithos, our final enemy, thought of you as a friend. The people we might run across won't be as powerful as him but will be far more malicious than he was. Someone your age shouldn't have to deal with something like this."

"E-even so," stuttered Genis, "shouldn't you be traveling with someone else, just to be safe?"

Raine paused for a moment as she brushed a strand of her now shoulder-blade-long silver hair away from her face. "Someone is coming with me Genis."

Genis tilted his head, curious. "Huh? Who is it? Lloyd? But wait… isn't he leaving on a journey with Sheena and Kratos soon?"

Raine paused again and took a quiet but deep breath. "No Genis. It's Regal."

Genis blinked, then blinked again. "Regal?" He thought about it for a moment, then grinned. "Oh I get it. You wanna spend some time with Regal, huh?"

Raine whirled around and smacked Genis in the head. "It's not like that Genis! I simply told Regal that I was going to go on this journey and he offered to help me. I agreed and we are now traveling together. Nothing more."

Genis rubbed his head and said, "Gee sis. If you don't wanna admit it, that's fi-"

Another smack to the head. "We're doing this as professionals Genis. Get it right," said Raine.

Genis rubbed his head again. He was going to say something else but decided against it. "Okay, okay, sorry sis. Seriously though, I'm just worried about you Raine. That's all."

The look of annoyance on Raine's face melted when she heard this. She knelt down and hugged her little brother. "I know Genis. Try not to worry about me. Regal will be there to protect me if something happens. Besides, you and Presea have some work to do here in Altamira."

Genis' eyes widened when he heard Presea's name. "P-Presea's here too?"

Raine nodded and smiled. Reaching into her pocket, she dug out a small key and handed it to Genis. "Regal had a special six-star split-room in this hotel made especially for you and Presea while you go about your work in Altamira. Seeing as there is no such thing as a six-star room, this must surely be the finest hotel room in the world. Are you sure you'd rather come with me than stay here?"

Genis turned red as he was handed the key. "Well uh, since you put it that way…"

Still smiling, Raine stood back up and finished up packing her bag. A knock came to the door and Raine immediately said, "Come in Regal. I'm almost ready to go."

The door opened and through it came Regal. He was dressed in a forest-green, long-sleeve shirt and a pair of comfort-fitted brown pants. On his feet were a pair of brand-new gray traveling boots. His shins were guarded by a pair of magnificent-looking silver and mythril-plated greaves that Raine had never seen Regal use before. Looking at the greaves reminded her of the fact that, even though he had told Alicia that he would remove his restraints after the battle with Mithos, he had still refused to do so. She had wanted to say something to him about it but decided that it would be best for Regal himself to decide when he would remove the "symbols of his crime". Looking up, Raine first thought that Regal had cut off his long hair. Upon further inspection, however, she discovered that it was merely tied back into a very neat and handsome-looking pony tail. His overall appearance was simple but humble, and Raine loved it. She felt that such an appearance suited him more than that of a prisoner, warrior, or even an aristocrat.

Regal looked down at Raine's little brother and smiled. "Hello Genis. I hope you find the accommodations I have prepared for you and Presea to be satisfactory."

Genis nodded. "I'm sure I will, but…" He clenched his fist and shook it at Regal, grinning all the while. "…you better make sure that you take care of Raine. Otherwise, I'm gonna cook ya."

Regal laughed warm-heartedly and shook his head. "Heh. Still playing the part of the tiny knight I see. Rest assured Genis that I will guard your sister with my life if need be."

Raine felt an unusual warmth in her heart when she heard this. "Regal…"

He looked over at Raine. "I'll be waiting in the lobby. Make sure that everything is ready to go. There's no need to rush." With that, he bowed slightly and walked out the door.

Genis grinned evilly and nudged his speechless sister in the thigh. "I think he's got the hots for you sis."

**_SMACK!_**

Fuming, Raine turned back to her pack and began to double-check everything. "What did I tell you Genis?"

Genis sighed as he rubbed his head. "Yes ma'am…"

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Regal watched as Raine emerged from the elevator and he stood to greet her. He hadn't paid much attention before while he was in her and Genis' room, but he now noticed just how stunning she was. She was wearing the same outfit that she told him she wore to a ceremonial dance in Asgard minus the hat. She had let her hair grow to be about shoulder-blade length and very straight, which Regal liked very much. He always appreciated a humble look as opposed to a glamorous or complex one.

He bowed again as she approached him. "Forgive my being so bold, but you look very beautiful."

Raine blushed, a rare thing to see her do indeed. She was not used to receiving such compliments, not only because she only thought of herself as merely "decent looking" but also the fact that few people felt compelled to compliment a half-elf on anything, let-alone how good they looked. "Why, thank you Regal. I don't hear that very often."

Regal nodded. "We'll change that. You'll see."

The two said nothing for a moment as they stared at each other. Finally, Raine broke the silence by saying, "You're very handsome yourself, Regal."

He bowed slightly. "Thank you for your overly-kind compliment."

Raine smiled and brought a hand to her cheek. It was amazing to see just how refined and polite a man as powerful socially, mentally, and physically as Regal could be. Most men (and women) like with his sort of influence almost always turned out to be snobs, pigs, or other such things. Regal was truly different, a man in a league of his own. She felt truly lucky to have a companion like him accompany her on what she felt would be a dangerous journey, both physically and spiritually.

She cleared her throat and spoke again. "By the way Regal, where should we start?"

"I have a couple of ideas," said Regal. "The best of which is Luin."

"Luin?" asked Raine, surprised. "Why Luin?"

He shook his head. "I've heard that, despite the people's love of you there, a small faction of anti-sylvanites have set-up there. There has already been one reported incident of one of their members trying to destroy your statue. They are spreading lies about not only you but all other half-elves as well. The popular theme seems to be that, quote, 'Mithos tried to destroy us all. Was he not a half-elf?'"

Raine shook her head and sighed. "I don't care about the statue, but do they have to use such a broad stereotype? Don't they realize that ninety-percent of all half-elves are good people?"

"They're just a bunch of fools who are looking to gain power and prestige by blaming all of the world's problems on a select group of people and then doing something to 'solve' this problem," said Regal with a hint of anger in his voice. He raised his cuffs to his face and clenched his fists. "By these restraints that represent my sins, I will put an end to all of this. Alicia wouldn't stand for this nonsense."

Raine walked forward and put a slender hand on his broad shoulder. "Regal, I…"

He shook his head and lowered his hands. "Forgive me. I know what you want to say but are afraid to do so. I know I said I should remove these, but I… I… I just can't let go. I'm sorry"

"It's okay Regal," said Raine softly. "You don't have to take them off if you don't want to. You should do it only when you feel that you are comfortable doing so."

Regal closed his eyes and took a step back. "Thank you Raine." He took a deep breath, turned around, and headed for the exit from the hotel. "Let's get started. The Rheiards are waiting for us outside."

With that, Raine nodded, and quickly followed after him.

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Short chapter, but this is more or less a set-up chapter, much like the last one. The good stuff begins next chapter. I appreciate any and all feedback, as usual. Also, if anyone reads this on the night of Saturday, June 4th, please remember that reviews can't be submitted till the folks at are done doing their update thingy. That being said, if you read this before they're done, I ask you to please return and leave a review for this later. Thank you! Next chapter coming sooner than this one did! Be sure to look out for Chapter 20 of Unconditional Love also!

Oh, and anti-sylvanite is my word for a half-elf or even a full-blooded elf hater (like Sylvan Elves from other fantasy books/movies)


	3. Messiah

A/N: Awright! Time for Regal and Raine to finally hit the road! First stop: Luin!

Didn't get quite as many reviews as last time, but that's cool. CtB is now on a fair number of favorites and alerts lists now. Hooray!

That being said, it's time for "Respond to the Readers!":

Zelda's Fox 38 – Indeed. Regal and Raine may think they're prepared for what's to come… but they're not. O.o

RockRaider – Sure enough. When it was discovered that Mithos was indeed the leader of Cruxis and the Desians, Mizuho quickly sent out words of warning to both words as a precaution. Unfortunately, most people took this the wrong way and thought that, if the ancient hero Mithos was a badguy, then so must every other half-elf. Do'h. And yes, they will run into a buncha anti-Sylvanites.

MizzDarkness – Don't worry. It's because he still loves Alicia (at least to some degree) that he wears the cuffs, so this will be a slow-burn romance with Raine. And thank you for the clothes compliment, but y'all are the ones who gave me the idea, so be sure to pat yourselves on the back.

Sabriel41 – Thank you kindly. I think I'm better able to catch the personality of Regal than any other ToS char. BTW, loved "Gavotte". It's made a fine addition to me and Mooncannon's C2 archive.

DW-811 – Good eye. More than anything right now, this is nothing more than a "professional relationship". However, it's not that they're afraid to show their emotions, rather, they haven't really developed any intimate feelings toward each other yet. They are good, perhaps even close, friends, but nothing more… yet. Besides, Regal still hasn't let go of Alicia yet. Stay tuned though.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed but I didn't personally respond to. I usually only respond to questions or statements that I feel need a response. Don't take it the wrong way.

That being said and done, on with the show!

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Chapter 3: Messiah

The Rheiards touched-down just along the outskirts of Luin. Regal and Raine dismounted from their respected aircraft, sealed them within a wing-pack, and took a look at the once devastated city. It had been a while since the two had last been here. When they came here last time, the city was still in a constant state of reconstruction and improvement. After a few necessary buildings had been rebuilt, work almost immediately began on the crafting of a pair of statues in honor of, not only Luin's, but Symphonia's greatest heroes: Lloyd Irving, the Eternal Swordsman, and Sheena Fujibayashi, Grand Summoner of Symphonia. After their completion, a group of half-elven settlers took it upon themselves to erect a statue in honor of Raine Sage, Grand Healer of Symphonia; a half-elven woman who should've served as an example to the world that not all half-elves were bad people. To some humans and elves, it did so. To others, however…

"Luin looks absolutely marvelous now," said Raine as she gazed upon the city. "It spears to be in much better shape since the last time we visited here.

Regal nodded. "Indeed. It's hard to believe that this place was once no more than a pile of rubble." He pointed to an impressive fountain at the entrance to the city. "Look Raine. We can see Lloyd's statue. They must have finally completed it."

The denizens of Luin could not have picked a better spot for the statue. It was situated in a small alcove just behind the fountain, giving the likeness of the hero of Symphonia a very majestic look.

Raine nodded and pointed further off in the distance. "You can even see Sheena's statue from here. I wonder if she's seen it yet. If she had, I'll bet she was embarrassed.

The two adventurers shared a short laugh and continued looking over the city. Finally catching sight of Raine's statue, Regal frowned as he saw a few people gathered around it. "I can see your statue now. It seems to be in one piece and, strangely enough, there are only a few people around it. All of them have what appear to be very crudely made weapons."

Raine looked at him, puzzled. "Only a few? And you said the statue's in one piece? Weren't there supposed to be anti-sylvanites here?"

He nodded. "Indeed. Perhaps those people are there to guard it?"

She shook her head. "Ridiculous. If the anti-sylvanites were to come, there's no reason for these people to possibly throw away their lives for the sake of a statue, especially one in the likeness of myself."

Regal turned to face her, a stern look on his face. "Absurd. While you make not think highly of yourself, the good half-elves of this world, or at least of Luin, look upon you as a hero. The statue was most likely constructed to show the world that good half-elves truly do exist. You should not take being immortalized so lightly."

Raine snorted and began to look elsewhere. "Still, I- wait, what's going on over there?" She pointed to another gathering of people holding weapons as crude as those of the first group of people they saw. A couple of the larger people in the back were carrying what appeared to be small, hand-held battering rams. A loud man was standing in front of all of them, barking out orders.

"What in the devil are they doing?" asked Regal. He shook his head and began to make his way down the hill they had landed on and towards the entrance of Luin. "Let us go, Raine! This doesn't look good!"

She nodded and quickly followed after him.

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"This is it lads!" yelled the leader of the men as he waved a torch about. "This is our chance to take down that statue of that freak half-elf, Raine! These half-breeds don't know who they're messing with!"

The men roughly two dozen men surrounding him cheered and raised their weapons. "Those half-elves are goin' down!" cried one of the men. "Down with the statue!" More cheers erupted from the small crowd.

Not far away, Regal and Raine peeked around the corner of a nearby building and watched as the mob got pumped up.

"It's as I feared," said Regal. "They're here to kill any half-elves they come across and destroy your statue in the process." He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "We have to help the half-elves."

"Wait Regal," said Raine. "While we may be able to beat them, innocent lives may be lost along the way. Why can't we just give up the statue?"

Regal shook his head. "I already told you Raine that I will not have it. The people of Luin look up to you- hey, they're on the move!"

The mob of unruly men began move after the man in front barked yet another order. They were headed for the south-eastern part of the town where Raine's statue was situated.

"No time to waste!" said regal as he took off once again. "Let's go Raine!"

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A staunch, half-elven defender spread his arms as he stood in front of the statue while his companions looked on. "This is the statue of our hero! Our savior! We shall not allow you to bring any harm upon it, you heartless beasts!"

Several of the men in the mob chuckled. "Really now?" said one of the men in response. "We'll just see about that! Once we destroy your precious little statue and kill the lot of you, we're going to find your "beloved savior" and make sure that she meets a similar fate."

The young defenders of the statue readied their weapons and crouched down into fighting position. "Fiends! We won't let you get away with this!"

The leader of the mob stepped forward and spit at the young defender's feet. "Fiends? Us? Feh." He motioned to all of the villagers of Luin who now gathered around the supposed spot of battle. "It is you who are the fiends! You half-elves disgust me, and that statue is making everyone around here uneasy. Bah! What was so great about this Raine woman anyway?"

Another young defender, a female, spoke up. "She's our Messiah. She's the one who has come to save the half-elves from persecution."

"M-Messiah?" stuttered Raine as she sank to her knees, concealed by the shadows of a nearby building. "Do they really think of me like that?"

Regal nodded. "It is as I said earlier. Because of your actions of the past, the half-elves see you as an example to the world that there are such things as good half-elves." He pointed to the small group of half-elves. "These people are ready to die if it means that they can spare the statue of their "Messiah" from harm."

Raine stood up abruptly and unstrapped her staff from her back. "I can't allow bloodshed for my sake! We have to intervene!"

Regal nodded. "I concur. Let us g- wait, who's that?"

Emerging from the group of half-elves was a very small figure in a hooded cloak. The child-like figure picked up a rock from the ground and threw it at one of the anti-sylvanites. "Go away! Leave Lady Raine's statue alone!" cried a voice that sounded like that of a very young girl. Her facial features could not be seen yet and all that could be made out of her appearance thus far was the plain-looking brown cloak that she wore. What really caught Regal and Raine's attention though were the two strange looking lumps on the little girl's back.

The rock flew through the air and struck the man in-between the eyes. A few trickles of blood flowed from the small wound on the man's forehead. Grabbing his head in pain, he stumbled about and eventually fell over backwards. "Oww! You little brat! You're going to die for that! Kill her!"

This was the breaking point. The two sides were ready to collide: the anti-sylvanites dead-set on killing any and all of the half-elves and destroy their precious statue and the small group of half-elves who were prepared to defend not only the statue but the brave little girl as well. Raine and Regal had only seconds to act.

"Oh no!" cried Raine as she ran from her hiding spot and went to the half-elves' aid.

"Raine!" yelled Regal in vain. He got up and began to run after her but stopped when he saw that Raine had stopped in front of the little girl who threw the rock. She spread her arms and faced the would-be-killers.

"Don't come a single step closer!" she yelled. "If any of you so much as try to harm any of the half-elves here, I'll make you regret it!"

She hadn't realized it yet, but she had caught the attention of everybody near the statue. All eyes were glues on her as she made her defiant stand. Some of the half-elves, thinking that Raine looked somewhat familiar, kept looking back and forth between her and the statue. Once they realized who she was, all they could do was stand and stare with their mouths hanging open.

Obviously unimpressed with Raine's heroics, one of the anti-sylvanites spit on Raine's boots and snorted. "Stupid woman. You should've never gotten in our way. Let's ge-"

"Ray!" yelled Raine as the tip of her staff glowed with holy energy. Before the men had the chance to say, "What the hell is that?", several beams of energy flew from her staff and struck each one of the men, bowling them over with great ease. None of them were killed, for Raine, thankfully for them, showed some restraint when deciding just how much mana she was going to pour into her attack.

Completely struck by fear, many of the men took off running once they were able to walk once again. One man could do naught but crawl backwards on his back as he kept gasping in fear. "W-who are you?"

At this time, Regal had finally joined Raine at her side but said nothing. It looked as if Raine was quite capable of handling herself. She sighed and looked down… and into the face of the little girl who had previously stood up to the men before. She smiled and asked, "Are you Lady Raine?"

"Am I Lady Raine?" Raine asked herself. "What should I do? Now that they've seen their… "messiah"… ah! I don't know!" She shook her head and paused. "Maybe… maybe I should just go along with it for now. Otherwise, they might begin to lose hope for the half-elves."

Raine smiled back down at the child then frowned as she faced the scared man once again. "I am Raine, Grand Healer of Symphonia. I am a half-elf."

The man's eyes shot wide open. A half-elf? Considering how much mana she had used, he had assumed that she was a pure-blooded elf. It didn't matter now though. He had to get away. "Y-you're Raine! A-ah!" He scrambled to his feet and immediately took off after his fleeing buddies.

The half-elves roared in celebration as they watched the evil men turn tail and run. Many of them immediately swarmed around Raine, unable to believe that they're "messiah" had come to save them.

"You saved us!" said one of young half-elves. "Our messiah has come to purge the anti-sylvanites from Symphonia!" Another round of applause.

The little girl from earlier immediately threw her arms around Raine's legs and hugged her. "Wow! I really got to meet Lady Raine!"

Regal could not help but smile as he watched the scene. "Well done Raine. You've driven off the anti-sylvanites… at least, for now."

Raine smiled. "Thank you Regal." She knelt down and brought herself to be eye-level with the cloaked girl, giving her a better view of her facial features. She was indeed very young, being perhaps no older than five years old. Her emerald green eyes shone with innocence and true happiness as she gazed upon her hero. Raine could see that she had green hair but could not tell just how long it was with the hood on.

"You were very back there, little one. What is your name?" asked Raine.

The girl pointed to herself and grinned. "Me? My name is Myra, Lady Raine."

Raine embraced the child. "Haha. Just Raine is fine. I'm no different from you." As she hugged the child, Raine noticed something very strange. She was able to touch the strange-looking lumps on her back and they felt almost like… a pillow. It was as if Myra had two pillows strapped to her back.

Raine pulled back and asked Myra, "Myra, what's on your back?"

Myra's smile immediately faded and was replaced with a look of both worry and despair. "Ah, ah? N-nothing's on my back."

"She's lying," said a very dark sounding voice.

Everyone around the statue turned to face a fairly tall cloaked man, his features shrouded by the shadow of his hood. Regal gasped when he saw the person. "He looks so familiar… and that voice! Where have I met him before?" he asked himself.

"Hey buddy, mind your own business!" yelled one of the half-elves.

The man in the cloak chuckled and shook his head. "She's a spawn of Cruxis. Of Mithos!"

Raine looked at him strangely. The little girl tried to free herself from Raine's grip but didn't have the strength to do so. "Spawn of Cruxis? What do you mean?" asked Raine.

"Heh," snorted the man. "Take of that little cloak of hers and you'll see what I mean." With that, he raised one arm and, from his hand, came a large ball of energy that slammed into Raine's statue, causing it to topple over and crumble. With a laugh, the man turned completely around and took off running.

"T-the statue!" cried the half-elves! "This was our sacred statue! What will we do?"

Despite Regal's protests, Raine didn't care one single bit for the statue. She was wondering what the man had meant about little Myra. She let the little girl go and asked, "Myra, are you hiding something from me?"

The little girl began to shiver uncontrollably as she shook her head. Myra began to walk backwards but didn't get very far before the tripped over her cloak. A stray piece of broken statue ripped at her cloak, much to her horror. This left a good portion of Myra's back exposed and, when everybody saw what was on her back the whole time, they all gasped in horror: it was a pair of beautiful, white-feathered angel wings, similar to the ones seen on the angels of Cruxis.

"W-what is this?" asked Regal.

"Myra?" asked Raine.

Myra could do naught but stare at the ground as her wings stretched freely through the large whole in her cloak, wondering what the people of Luin would do with her.

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Ah! A Cruxis-type Angel! What's going to become of little Myra? And what's with that creepy guy that showed? Regal could swear that he'd seen the man somewhere before. Is Raine really the messiah of the half-elven people? Strange things are definitely afoot. Anyhoo, things have only just begun, so be sure to stay tuned for later chapters! Thanks for any and all reviews!


	4. The Tiniest Angel

A/N: I am SOO sorry for the long delay everyone! Work has been absolute murder lately! Please forgive ol' Steve-o!

Okay, looks like "crossing the Bridge is doing fairly well! I'm glad to see that so many people have at least given RaineXRegal a shot. Anyhoo…

With the anti-Sylvanites driven off, Regal and Raine can only celebrate for a short time before a familiar-sounding man not only destroys Raine's statue but also reveals the true identity of Myra, the little girl who stood up so bravely against the anti-Sylvanites. Now that it has been revealed that she is an angel, a "Spawn of Cruxis" as the mysterious man called her, what will the people of Luin who hate the angels of Cruxis do with her?

With that, it's time for "Respond to the Readers!"

Mooncannon - Glad you love the story partner! However, you must be patient with the "mushy stuff". Remember, this is still a professional relationship, but their affection for each other will grow in time. That being said, you can still expect a quasi-RaineXRegal scene soon.

Bane the Mad Demon Slayer – Yup, and Regal swears that he's seen him before. But where?

Rock Raider – Right you are. While Harley won't be a major character, he just might make an appearance somewhere in the story.

Rosa-Le-Fay – Glad you like little Myra. She's going to be a major character.

Soul-Taken – (prepares his usual line) You are too kind! Thank you! Seriously, as you said, I also believe that Regal deserves better than what he gets in most fanfics. Don't see many Regal pairings, let alone RegalXRaine.

Cozette Wilder – Heh… you'll see.

superspork97 – Good eye, and thanks.

Without further ado, on with the show!

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Chapter 4: The Tiniest Angel

"This is horrible!" yelled one of the half-elven men that was guarding the now destroyed statue of Raine. "The statue is gone and now we find out that Cruxis has been living among us!"

"What do we do?" asked one of the women.

Another man pushed his way through the crowd. "What else? We can't trust any angel of Cruxis! We have to get rid of her!"

Several whispers sounded throughout the crowd. A woman said, "But she's just a child."

The man turned to her, a disapproving look on his face. "Did Mithos not look like a child as well?"

More whispers. The woman had no way of replying to this statement. During the entire ordeal, little Myra could only hang her head in shame, too scared to do anything.

Regal took his eyes off the little angel long enough to look at his companion and say, "Raine, you have to do something. Surely they'll listen to you."

She nodded and kneeled down next to Myra. "Everyone, please listen to me!"

The arguing among the gathering of half-elves ceased when they heard their "messiah" speak. Raine cleared her throat and began again. "My fellow half-elves, let us not act so rashly. While it is true that she is an angel, it doesn't mean that she's bad."

Raine cupped her hands under the child's chin and slowly lifted her head. She smiled as the child's eyes met her own. "Have you ever seen the eyes of the wicked angels of Cruxis? The emptiness of them? I have, and I can tell you now that these are not eyes of Cruxis. No, these eyes are full of both kindness and sadness."

More whispers. Raine stood back up and turned to the half-elves. "This girl has done nothing wrong to us and she even tried to stand up to those men that were here earlier. If we hated her simply for the fact that she was an angel of Cruxis, wouldn't we, in essence, turn into the very people that loathe us so?"

Raine felt a tugging on her pant-leg and looked down to see Myra clinging onto her leg. She did not look up but instead buried her face in the cloth of Raine's pants. The tone was low, but Raine thought she could hear her say, "Thank you Lady Raine."

"She's right," said one of the men. "The last set of people that we need to be like is those terrible men that destroyed Lady Raine's statue."

One of the younger women nodded. "That's right. The little girl did try to help us after all. Besides, she's kinda cute."

Myra pulled away from the supposed safety of Raine's pant-leg and smiled at the woman that said this. Her wings flapped slowly as she tore away the rest of the ragged cloak she was wearing. She wore the same sort of clothes that any other little girl her age would wear: a sky-blue long-sleeved shirt and white skirt made up the majority of her outfit. A small, pink ribbon in her hair and brown sandals completed it. The shirt had straps in the back so that it could be put on in a fashion similar to that of a vest, thus making it easier to wear clothes on her torso despite the wings on her back.

One of the men kneeled down in front of her and said, "We're terribly sorry for what we did. Can you forgive us?"

Myra simply nodded her head. "O-okay. Thank you."

Raine smiled as she looked on. It was good to see that the half-elves had come so quickly to support the little angel.

Raine could feel Regal's presence as he stepped up next to her and looked on. "Well done Raine. This is certainly a good start for our journey to end racism. Perhaps this isn't as impossible as many would first think."

She nodded. "Yes. I hope you're right."

A man stepped forward and bowed his head in respect toward Raine. "Thank you for your help earlier Lady Raine. I'm truly sorry for what happened to your-"

Raine held up a hand, silencing him. "Don't say it. I don't care about the statue. I'm just glad that all of you are okay."

The half-elves clapped. "Thank you Lady Raine!" they yelled. "With the Messiah on our side, we can't possibly lose!"

Regal nudged her and grinned. Raine playfully nudged him back and recomposed herself. The half-elf standing before her asked, "What brings you to Luin anyway, Lady Raine?"

She shook her head. "Please, just Raine will do. As for why we are here, we had heard that there were anti-sylvanites here, so we came to put a stop to them."

"We?" asked the man.

She nodded and pointed to Regal. "This is Regal Bryant, a powerful master of martial arts and my-"

"Guardian," said Regal, interrupting her. "It is my duty to protect Raine on her journey.

"Whoa," said the man. "He sure looks strong, but why is he wearing those handcuffs?"

Sweat ran down Regal's face as he struggled to answer the question. "I… I…"

Raine turned around and placed a hand on Regal's massive shoulder. "It's simple really. He's so powerful that he doesn't need to use his hands to fight."

The two companions stared at each other for a moment before Raine turned back around. "In fact, I wasn't about to have Regal dirty himself for the sake of taking down a few small-time thugs like the men that were just here, so I took care of them myself."

Everyone present whistled, obviously impressed with what she had to say. "Wow!" said the half-elf. "He must be _really_ powerful!"

Raine smiled and nodded. "Indeed he is. I don't know what I'd do without him."

"Raine…" said Regal, unable to say anything else.

"By the way," started the man, "Mr. Bryant mentioned something about a journey you were on. What is your journey, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Our journey?" asked Raine. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Our goal is to find a way to end worldwide racism."

The entire gasped and then went deathly quiet when they heard this. End worldwide racism? Was it really possible?

"That's not all," continued Raine. "This isn't just for the half-elves. This is for all of the races of the world who are suffering oppression from those who would seek to destroy them." She looked down and smiled again at Myra. "This even includes the angels of Cruxis."

Everyone cheered. The thought of a world where all races could live together in harmony was intoxicating to the half-elves. If their Messiah was successful in her quest, then never again would they have to look over their shoulder, wondering if some crazed human or elf was prepared to stab them in the back.

"Well then!" said the man. "If that's the case, then let me come as well!"

"Me too!" said another voice.

"And me!" yelled yet another.

Myra tugged at Raine's pants again. "I wanna go too!"

Raine waved her hands, the smile on her face widening. "Everyone, please settle down! I'd love to take all of you, but this is going to be a very dangerous journey. I don't want any more lives to be lost than already have been. Thank you very kindly though!"

All of the half-elves were disappointed but did their best to not show it. "We understand Lady Raine," said the man. "But will you at least stay within our humble settlement for the evening? We would be honored to have you as a guest!"

"You can stay with me Lady Raine!" yelled one of the women.

"No! Pick me!" yelled one of the men.

Myra tugged on Raine once again. "Please stay with me Lady Raine! I just live with my grandma."

"Where are your parents?" asked Regal.

Myra's smile faded and she looked down. "I-I dunno."

Regal leaned towards Raine and whispered, "Raine, do you suppose it's possible that we could've-"

She shook her head. "Don't say it Regal. I don't even want to consider that possibility." She turned back to Myra and said, "Alright then Myra. We accept your offer. Lead the way."

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"Grandma! I'm home!" yelled the little angel as she opened the front door and ran into the house, Raine and Regal following close behind her. Myra's house was very simplistic and slightly run-down, but looked fairly comfortable nonetheless. As they waited for Myra to reappear with her grandmother, the heroes took a seat on the couch.

A moment later, Myra reappeared with a human woman about fifty years old following behind her. "Look Grandma! I brought home Lady Raine!"

"Lady Raine?" asked the woman. "Isn't that that lovely looking girl that the half-elves made a statue for?"

Raine blushed when she heard this. Regal just grinned. "Yes, she is the one-and-only Raine Sage," said Regal in response to the woman's question.

She smiled and bowed her head. "I heard that the two of you saved my little Myra from harm today. Thank you so much. She's all that I have left in this world."

"I-it was nothing really," stuttered Raine. "We weren't about to let a group of ruffians hurt such an innocent child."

The woman laughed. "Still, thank you all the same." She looked down at Myra. "Myra honey, can you go set the table for dinner? It's almost ready."

"Yes Grandma!" said the angelic child as she ran off.

Raine sighed as she stood up. "I don't mean to pry or be so blunt, but it's fairly obvious that you are not Myra's grandmother."

"Raine!" said Regal.

The woman waved her hand. "It's alright, and you are correct. I, unfortunately, am not Myra's grandmother. That doesn't stop her from being the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"If I may ask, how did you come across her?" asked Raine.

The woman turned around and looked out of a window. "About a month ago, as Luin was being rebuilt, I had moved here from Izoold. One night, not long after I first arrived here, I heard a knock on my door. I looked to see who it was, and there stood a handsome-looking swordsman in a purple outfit with an unconscious angel in his arms. He said that he had found her near the Tower of Salvation. He asked me if I could care for the little girl. Not having anyone else in my life, I naturally accepted and off he went. I have no clue who he was."

"Man in a purple outfit?" said Raine quietly to Regal. "Could it have been Kratos?"

Regal nods. "I think so. It sounds like something he would do."

Raine lowered her head. "Kratos, just what were you up to while you were away from us?"

The woman turned back to her guests. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," replied Raine. "It's not everyday that you see a Cruxis angel living among the common folk."

The woman closed her eyes and smiled. "Whether she's of Cruxis or not matters not to me. What matters is that she has filled a void left long ago when my husband and daughter were killed by the Desians."

"I-I'm sorry ma'am," said Raine. "I didn't mean-"

"Okay everyone!" yelled Myra. "Dinner's ready!"

The woman shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean anything bad by what you said. You wouldn't have helped Myra otherwise." She began to walk toward the kitchen. "C'mon young'ins. Time to get some good food in you."

Regal turned to his companion. "Something seems amiss here."

Raine nodded. "You're right, but it's probably not our business. If we absolutely have to, we can find out more about this later."

"But what about that man that destroyed your statue?" asked Regal. "He seemed to express a certain interest in Myra. Since he seems to be in league with the anti-sylvanites, Myra may be more important to our journey than we realize."

Raine sighed. "Perhaps. This is just too much to take in at once."

Regal nodded. "Agreed. Perhaps we can discuss what we know in detail after dinner."

Raine nodded back. "Alright. For now, let us take up our host's kind offer of dinner."

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A bit of a short chapter and not very action-packed, I know (wow, this sounds like the end-note of chapter 2). Nonetheless, I'm simply taking this chapter as an opportunity to explain just who Myra is. I hope everyone likes her, as she's about to become a very important character.

Now then, I know that I just apologized for the long delay in my initial A/N, but now I'll have to ask y'all to bear with me for another delay. Why? Once Chapter 22 of "Unconditional Love" is done, I want to put EVERYTHING on hold until I complete Chapter 23 of UL which is slated to be the big Sheloyd chapter I promised to the readers of UL. That being said, it may be up to a month before you see another chapter of "Crossing the Bridge". Please, please, forgive! CtB is still #2 on my priority list, so don't worry about something else taking over.

As always, thanks in advance for any and all reviews!


	5. Getting Acquainted

A/N: Awwright! Now that the newest chapter of "Unconditional Love" is done, I can finally get back to updating my other fics! First on that list is "Crossing the Bridge". Ahem…

Her true identity revealed, Myra is relieved to no end that not only Regal and Raine but the rest of the villagers in Luin are willing to accept her for what she is: a sweet little girl and not some horrible little "Spawn of Cruxis" as the mysterious anti-Sylvanite put it earlier. In thanks for helping her out, Myra has invited Regal and Raine over to spend the night and have dinner with her and her adoptive grandmother. What other secrets could the little angel be hiding?

Intro aside, it's time for everyone's favorite segment of the show, er, story, "Respond to the Readers"! Yay!

Rock Raider – So many theories! Are any of them right? Wait and see! I think you'll like this chapter.

Sunnigen – I'm glad you and so many other people like little Myra so much! And thank you for your kind words

Rosa-Le-Fay – Heh… the man in purple was most likely Kratos… but why would he bring Myra to Luin? So many questions about little Myra! Some of those will be answered in this chapter! Who was the man? You'll find that out too! Of course I've had my septic tank checked lately::walks to window, points at yard: See? Everything is- oh no! My yard::runs off:

Kitten Kisses – Thanks for all the reviews! What happened to Raine was horrible, but hopefully she'll be able to do something about it. I didn't see many stories about Raine's quest to end racism so it seemed like as good an idea as any. Glad you like Myra

Cozette Wilder – Heh. I'm sorry this romance is slow-burn, but I'm sure you'll appreciate it in the end.

God all Mighty – You'll see!

Linkite – Thank you. I'll do my best.

Fenrir Hellfyre – I wouldn't count on Kratos showing up. After all, he's currently searching for the Devil Arms with Lloyd and Sheena.

Fan Fan Girl – Thanks. I'm glad you appreciate the slow-burn romance.

SoulTaken and FullofYami – Heh. We need a Myra fan club

Speaking of Myra, would anyone out there be interested in drawing everyone's favorite little non-corrupt angel? Ahem, without further ado, I present to you…

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Chapter 5: Getting Acquainted

As the moon rose slowly in the evening sky, everyone in Myra's house had found their own way to relax: Raine sat on the couch and read from one of her books of ancient lore just as she always did. Regal sat cross-legged on the floor, his eyes closed as he meditated. Myra's grandmother was in her chair, knitting away on one of Myra's torn dresses. Finally, little Myra was on the floor playing with a few dolls her grandmother had bought for her shortly after she arrived in Luin.

Myra's grandmother looked up from her knitting and up at the clock. She then looked down and Myra and said, "Myra, honey, it's time to go to bed."

"Aww, grandma! Do I have to?" protested the tiny angel.

She nodded. "Little girls need their rest. Don't you want to grow up to be just as pretty as Lady Raine?" Raine looked up from her book and blushed as Regal chuckled.

"Okay grandma, I'll go to bed." Myra grabbed her dolls, stood up, and walked over to Raine. "Lady Raine, will you tuck me in please?"

"W-what? Me?" asked Raine.

Myra nodded. "Please?"

Myra's grandmother smiled at Raine. "Would you mind doing it Lady Raine? I'm sure it would mean a lot to her."

Raine put a small piece of paper in the book she was reading, closed it up, and set it on the small table next to the couch. "Alright Myra. Go get changed for bed and I'll be there in a moment."

"Yay! Thank you Lady Raine!" Myra laughed and ran off to her room, her dolls in tow.

Raine smiled and shook her head. "She's adorable."

"She's my special little angel," said Myra's grandmother. "Her smile is enough to make me happy on my worst days."

Regal nodded. "Indeed. She seems like a very sweet child."

Laughing, Raine said, "I guess I better go tuck her in. I wouldn't want to keep her waiting." With that, she took off down the hall where Myra's room was.

Myra's grandmother watched as Raine walked down the hallway and once she was out of sight, she set down what she was knitting and looked at Regal. "Mr. Bryant?"

He turned to her. "Yes Ms. …"

She smiled. "Selias. Samantha Selias. Mr. Bryant, throughout the course of the evening, I could not help but notice that you took several glances at Lady Raine. Is it possible that you feel something for her?"

In a rare moment of embarrassment, Regal's cheeks turned red as he looked at the ground. "I must admit that I did do just as you said. Raine is a very valuable companion and a good friend of mine."

"Really Mr. Bryant? Is that all?"

"What do you mean?"

"I have a feeling that you consider her to be more than just a friend." 

Regal closed his eyes. "We are on a journey to save the world from the evils of racism. This is not the time to worry about such things."

"You're making excuses. This journey is as good a reason as any to get close to each other. You do realize that she glanced at you a few times as well, don't you?"

Regal looked back up at Ms. Selias. "She was?"

She nodded. "Indeed she was. Every time she did, he face turned quite red. She seems to be quite fond of you."

Regal closed his eyes again and shook his head. "Fond or not, I dare not get to close to her. My sins are too deep for me to get too close to someone as pure as Raine."

"You are not an evil man Mr. Bryant. I can feel it."

"I have committed a crime that can never and should never be forgiven."

"Is that why you wear the restraints?"

He nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head again. "Forgive me, but-"

"No explanation needed Mr. Bryant. I shall respect your privacy. Is your crime so great that you can not somehow put it behind you and remove those cuffs?"

"Yes."

"The crime is great to you, or to society?"

"What?"

"I don't know what you did Mr. Bryant, but it could not have been so terrible that Lady Raine would decide to not travel with you. Perhaps she understands what you did and sympathizes with you."

"I… I…"

Ms. Selias picked up what she was knitting and got back to work. "Just take some time to think about it Mr. Bryant. You are a good man. There's no need to punish yourself for the rest of your life."

Regal said nothing as he closed his eyes once again and went back to his meditation.

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"There you go little one," said Raine as she finished tucking in Myra.

The tiny angel smiled up at her hero. "Thank you Lady Raine."

Raine smiled as she prepared to walk out of the room. "Sweet dreams Myra."

"Lady Raine?"

Raine stopped and turned back to Myra. "It's okay Myra. Just "Raine" is fine. What's wrong?"

"Do you like Mr. Regal?"

Raine's face immediately became fully flushed as she turned away. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

Myra giggled. "You were looking at him an awful lot."

If it was possible for Raine's face to turn any more red, it just did. "N-no I wasn't."

"Yes you were! Hehe!"

Raine folded her arms. "Hmph. So what if I was?"

"I think it's neat! From the stories I've heard, Mr. Regal is very strong and brave, like a knight from the stories that grandma tells me at bedtime."

Raine closed her eyes. Indeed, there were several times when Regal, much like a knight, saved her danger and fought fiercely to protect her from any further harm. However, that didn't necessarily mean anything. Friends do such things for each other all the time.

Raine turned back to Myra. "This isn't something little girls shouldn't worry about."

Myra giggled again. "Lady Raine likes Mr. Regal!" she said harmoniously.

Now Raine was terribly embarrassed. "Alright, that's enough out of you. Time for bed."

"Raine?"

She sighed. "Yes?"

"Will you tell me a story?"

"A story?"

"Yes. Tell me about how you saved the world from Cruxis!"

"But Myra, I-" Raine hesitated. Tell the story of how they defeated Cruxis? She couldn't bear to tell Myra of how she and her friends had defeated the angels of Cruxis… the same angels that most likely gave birth to her and left her to die at the foot of the Tower of Salvation. Besides, every time that Raine thought about it, she became increasingly worried that perhaps during the course of their travels they may have unknowingly come across Myra's parents and killed them. Their journey, while successful, was still laden with pain and hardship. Such things were not the kind of material one should use for a bedtime story.

"Lady Raine?"

Raine shook her head. "I'm sorry Myra. I'd rather not tell that story."

"Why not? I bet you had a really neat adventure!"

Raine looked as if she was going to say something but then stopped herself. She shook her head again. "Maybe some other time. How about if I tell you another story?"

"Okay! What's it about?"

Raine cupper her chin with her hands for a moment. "This should be easy. I'll just take some of my friends whose names she'd recognize and put them in a different story. Now who would she recognize… ah! Of course! Lloyd and Sheena! Their statues are still up" She smiled, pulled up a chair, and sat next to the bed. "Have you ever heard of the heroes Lloyd and Sheena?"

"Do I!" said Myra excitedly. "After you, they're my favorite heroes!"

Raine laughed. "Is that so?"

Myra nodded happily. "Yup! I'm not sure which one I like more."

"Oh?"

Yeah, I mean… Mr. Lloyd is strong and very brave, but Lady Sheena is kind and very beautiful. They're a great team!"

Raine laughed again when she heard this. This little girl seemed to really enjoy fixing up relationships. "You don't say? Well little miss, you're in for a treat tonight. Tonight's story is about how brave Sir Lloyd saved Princess Sheena from the evil Earth Dragon!"

Myra squealed happily. "Yay! I can't wait to hear it."

Raine smiled and began to motion with her hands. "Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a brave young man named Lloyd who served the kind and very pretty Princess Sheena."

Myra smiled. "How pretty was she?"

Raine grinned and poked Myra lightly on the nose. "Not quite as pretty as you."

Myra giggled and laid back. After laughing with her for a bit, Raine continued on with her story.

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A half-hour later, Raine slowly made her way out of Myra's room and quietly closed the door behind her. When she turned around, she saw Regal standing not far from her.

"You have the soul of a mother," said Regal.

Raine blushed and turned away. "I-it's nothing really. I used to have to do the same thing for Genis, so I'm really used to it."

"But Genis is your brother. This is someone you just met today."

Raine sighed and turned back to Regal. "There's something very special about this girl. It's common knowledge that a child's soul is pure, but what I feel from Myra is unlike anything I've ever felt before. She's honest, very sweet-hearted, and well-mannered."

"She must have had a very fortunate upbringing."

"With parents who may have worked for Cruxis?"

"Let's not be so hasty Raine. Even after the fall of Cruxis, I feel that we have not yet even begun to scratch the surface of their organization. There is most certainly more to this than meets the eye. After all, have you noticed her ears?"

"Her ears?" Raine shook her head. "I haven't really paid attention to tell you the truth since her hair was always covering her ears. Seeing as how she is an angel with real wings, I could only assume that they are pointed, since angels are nothing more than evolved half-elves."

"Her ears were not pointed Raine."

Raine blinked. "W-what?"

"I caught a glimpse of them while we were relaxing after dinner. Her ears are just as round as my own."

Raine shook her head again. "That can't be. All half-elves have pointed ears."

"Which leads me to believe that there may be such a thing as _real_ angels."

"_Real_ angels? What do you mean?"

Regal closed his eyes. "I mean the kind of angels that we used to hear about in fairy tales; not the half-elves who tried to become like them."

Raine sighed. "This is a lot to take in. There are so many things to consider."

"Agreed. There are still many questions left unanswered. Perhaps we may come across some of the answers on our journey. For now, we should try to get some rest. Myra's grandmother has informed me that she has a guest room prepared for you at the end of the hall."

"What about you?"

Regal grinned. "I'll be sleeping on the couch. It's more than I need."

Raine was going to argue with him but decided against it. "All right. Thank you Regal."

"Then I shall bid you "good night" Raine." With that, Regal gave Raine a slight bow and began to walk back towards the living room.

Raine turned around to walk towards her room but only took a few steps before she stopped and turned around.

_"Do you like Mr. Regal?"_

"Regal?" said Raine.

_"I have a feeling that you consider her to be more than just a friend."_

He turned to face her. "Yes Raine?"

Raine hesitated and shook her head. "No, it's nothing."

"I see. Good night Raine."

"Good night Regal." She watched as he turned the corner to the living room and sighed.

_"Lady Raine likes Mr. Regal!"_

"I'm sorry Myra," said Raine to herself. She opened the door to her room and took one last look down the hall. "Not yet." She closed the door behind her and prepared herself for bed.

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And chapter 5 is done! A tiny bit short at 2,000 words, but I hope y'all liked it all the same. So how about that? Little Myra **_doesn't_** have pointy-ears, meaning she can't be a half-elf… right? What lies in wait for our heroes tomorrow? Will they have to part ways with Myra so they can continue their journey? Maybe she's gonna tag along, but why would she leave her grandma? So many questions. What better time than now to end the chapter, heh. Anyway, thanks for any and all reviews! Be on the lookout for story number 2 of MoS: "What if Raine knew how to cook?", coming soon to a fan-listing near you!


	6. Tragedy

A/N: Alright! We're Chapter 6 is here and we're already at 60 reviews. Thank you all so very much! Time for the intro…

Heh, as Fan Fan Girl said, the young and the old are wise in their own ways. While it now seems to be apparent that Regal and Raine do feel a certain something for each other, the other side does not know it and neither believes that this is the time or place for such things. Regal has also made an interesting observation about Myra: unlike the other feather-winged (key word: feather-winged) angels of Cruxis, Myra does not have pointy ears. While it is true that not all half-elves have pointy-ears (Yuan being a prime example), this does cast some doubt as to whether or not she really is an angel of Cruxis or not.

And now, time for "Respond to the Readers"! Squee!

FullofYami – Yes, please draw Myra! I think I speak for everyone when I say that we would like to see a picture of everyone's favorite little angel!

Rock Raider – Don't worry. I'm sure Kate and/or Ozette will make an appearance eventually.

Fan Fan Girl – Indeed. It would've been nice if the game further elaborated on Raine's motherly side.

J.A.Phillips and WhitterZ – See intro for details concerning your comments. More answers will be provided somewhere down the line. Thanks for your reviews!

God all Mighty – I'm working as fast as I can. Thanks for reading!

Crow13 – It's a shame that Regal isn't paired up with more people. I can't wait to see your SheenaXRegal story. I'll eventually write a one-shot of that pairing as a part of "Hearts of Symphonia" (see my profile for details), but I hope I can learn something about this 'ship from your story. On my site, I have listings set aside for every possible couple in the game. Here's the excerpt I wrote for SheenaXRegal…

**_Sheena and Regal_** - Hmm... this one's interesting. The first obvious negative about this 'ship is the 14-year age difference. Also, Regal is no where near as light-hearted as Sheena. However, they both share a very strong sense of justice. Regal would obviously let his past get in the way with the relationship, but, if everyone remembers correctly, Sheena feels that she killed many people as well. The two can relate with each other. This couple would be very serious and would be no wear near as light-hearted as Sheloyd or Colloyd. Despite this, this oddball couple has a real shot of doing fairly well.

With that aside, we're ready to get started on the next chapter. Without further ado…

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Chapter 6 Tragedy

Smoke clouded Regal's vision as he looked around his unfamiliar surroundings. He knew little other than that he was in a building: a building that was burning down around him. He knew not why he was here, nor did he know why he was surrounded by flames. All he knew was that somewhere very close to him, he could hear a woman's voice calling to him.

"Who are you! Where are you!" he cried.

"Here…" said the woman weakly. "Not far…"

He looked around, trying to discern where the voice was coming from while trying to avoid the sounds of fire-based destruction that surrounded him. He jogged forward, thinking he had heard figured out where the voice had come from.

"Regal… here…"

He came to a door, its hinges partially melted by the intense heat generated by the fire. He called out again. "Where are you!"

"In here…"

Not wasting any time, he used one well-placed kick to knock down the door and walked inside. Just as it was outside the room, flames burned unchecked all around him. Doing the best he could to ignore the inhumanly intense heat of the flames, he squinted his eyes and searched around the room. "I-I can't see you! Where-"

A small section of the flames dissipated, revealing a young woman bound in chains. She looked up at Regal with eyes filled with sorrow. His heart skipped a beat when he realized who it was: Alicia.

"A-Alicia!" said Regal breathlessly. "What's going on!"

She smiled weakly. "Regal…"

"Regal!" yelled another woman's voice from behind him.

He spun around quickly and saw that another section of the flames, revealing the woman that had become particularly close to his heart as of late: Raine. Like Alicia, she too was bound by chains.

"What the-… Raine!"

"Regal!" she cried. "Please help me!"

"Regal…" said Alicia again.

"Heh… ehehe…" laughed someone from the direction of the only wall that had not been checked so far.

Regal turned to this voice as well. Before him stood the man that had ruined so many years of his life, had killed Alicia, and had put Presea in a state of soullessness for so many years: Vharley. He was covered in flames and held a similarly burning torch in his hands. However, he seemed to be unaffected by what was not only happening around him but what was happening to him.

"Well well Regal, time to make a choice, he said coldly. He pointed to Alicia and then to Raine. "Choose, but choose wisely. Heh… hehe…"

"W-what!" said Regal unbelievingly as he looked from woman to woman. Flames began to grow gradually closer and closer to the two. Now he knew what Vharley meant. He would only have enough time to save one of the two from the flames… but which one should he save? "I…I don't know what to do!"

"Please Regal…" said Alicia with an eerily calm voice.

Raine, on the other hand, sounded quite frantic. "Regal! Please help me!"

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The acrid smell of burning wood filled Regal's nostrils as sat up on the couch. Fire was all around him, just like in the dream… or was it a dream?

"What? What the hell is happening!" he said as he quickly stood up. Not far off, he thought he could head Myra screaming. "Myra!"

"Regal!" yelled Raine from an unknown location.

He turned to where he thought he heard Raine. "Raine? Where are you!"

"Don't worry about Myra!" she yelled in response. "I think I can get to her from here! Try to find her grandmother!"

"R-right! I'll be back soon!" He was now overly glad that he had not taken off his grieves before he went to sleep as they came in handy when he started kicking away fallen pieces of the house away while trying to make his way to what he thought was Ms. Selias' room. "Damn this fire. How did this happen?" Busting his way through what appeared to be part of a bathroom, Regal finally found himself in what looked like the grandmother's room. Looking around, he saw her lying on the ground underneath a pile of burning rubble. "Ms. Selias!"

He began to move toward her but she held up her hand as if to say "stop". "Mr. Bryant, you can't. It's too dangerous and time is short…"

"Don't say that!" he yelled as he moved towards her. Before he could even complete his first step, a large piece of rubble fell between him and the grandmother, separating the two and obstructing their views of each other. "Oh no!"

"Mr. Bryant, there's no time. Can you grant an old woman one last favor before she passes on?"

Regal closed his eyes, knowing there was nothing he could do without endangering himself and quite possibly Raine and Myra as well. All he could now was hear out the woman's last request and do his best to act upon it. "…of course. Anything you want."

She coughed. "Please… take care of Myra for me. She deserves a good family to look after her."

He took a step back when he heard her request. "What? But I-"

"Please Mr. Bryant. I beg of you."

He closed his eyes again. "Alright. I'll… we will look after Myra for you."

Another cough. "Thank you Mr. Bryant. May the goddess watch after all of you." As soon as she finished her sentence, another piece of rubble fell where she was lying.

Regal sadly bowed his head and said a silent prayer. Once done, he turned around and made his way out of the room. "I have to hurry." He quickly reached the doorway of Myra's room but it too was covered in burning rubble. "Raine! Myra! Are you in there!"

"Mr. Regal!" cried Myra. "Please help us! A piece of wood hit Lady Raine in the head and she won't wake up!"

"Raine!" he said to himself. "Please don't be hurt…" He took two steps backs, lowered his shoulder, and threw his entire body into the pile of rubble, allowing him to plow through the burning debris. That aside, he made his way over to Raine and Myra. He kneeled down next to Raine and examined her head, discovering a small trickle of blood where she was supposedly hit. "This isn't good. She needs medical attention."

"Is Lady Raine going to be okay?" asked Myra worriedly.

He nodded. "She'll be fine if we can get her out of here."

"But how Mr. Regal? The fire is getting closer!"

He bowed his head and closed his eyes. For a brief moment, he thought he could see Alicia. He knew how to get out of here and was prepared to accept any guilt that came with his method of doing so.

"Myra, stand back," said Regal. She did as she was told and stepped away from Regal. He stood back up and placed his cuffed hands together palm-to-palm and aimed them at the wall furthest from them. Blue energy welled up in his hands grew steadily larger until he yelled "Spirit Wave" and let the energy fly at the wall. A section of the wall exploded, leaving just enough room for them to escape outside.

He picked up Raine's unconscious body and made his way outside. "Myra, let's go!" She did as she was told.

They went around to the front of the burning house where several of the townsfolk had gathered. Everyone gasped in awe when they saw regal, Myra, and the comatose Raine emerge from the side of the building. Regal set Raine down on the ground and kneeled next to her.

"Lady Raine! Is she okay?" asked one of the bystanders.

Regal did not reply as he placed his tightly cuffed hands palms down on Raine's stomach. He closed his eyes and a soft white light began to illuminate his hands. Myra kneeled on the other side of Raine and placed her tiny hands opposite Regal's massive hands in a similar fashion. "I'll help too."

Regal opened his eyes and looked up at the tiny angel. "Myra?"

She didn't reply as her hands also glowed with the same white light as Regals' hands did. Everyone was already surprised enough at Regal's attempt to heal Raine but when they saw that Myra too had the ability to heal, they were absolutely dumbfounded. Regal closed his eyes and continued his chi-based healing on Raine. Everyone watched and waited, hoping that their "messiah" would get up. They didn't have long to wait.

Raine coughed, bringing a sigh of relief to everyone that surrounded her. Her eyes slowly opened, pupils moving from left to right as she tried to analyze her surroundings. "Regal? Myra? What happened?"

Myra immediately threw her arms around Raine and hugged her hero. "You're okay! You're okay!"

Regal smiled weakly. "You should thank Myra. She healed you."

Raine sat up and looked at the happy angel. "Myra? You healed me?"

Her cheeks turned red. "Um, um, Mr. Regal did most of the work. I just helped."

Raine smiled. "Even so, thank you Myra. You really are an amazing girl."

The martial artist watched as the two hugged. It seemed so strange to him that Raine didn't act the least bit surprised that Myra could use healing arts. Rather than being fascinated by what the tiny angel could do, she seemed much happier with the fact that not only Myra was okay but that Myra actually tried helping her as well. Although the two had just met yesterday, they seemed to have already developed a strong bond between, almost as if…

Myra pulled away from Raine and looked up at Regal. She bowed courteously. "Thank you for saving us Mr. Regal!" She looked at the crowd of people and scanned them from left to right. "Has anyone seen grandma?" she asked.

Regal's heart nearly failed when he heard her ask this. Raine looked up at him. From the expression on his face, she could tell what had become of poor Myra's grandmother. She wanted to be able to tell Myra what happened without having to force Regal to do such a thing but she just couldn't find the words.

After finding out from everybody that they didn't know where her grandmother was, she ran over to Regal and asked, "Mr. Regal, have you seen my grandma?"

He swallowed a lump in his throat. "I… I..."

"Heh, don't worry Bryant, I'll save you the trouble," said a voice from above them.

Everyone looked up at once. On the roof of the building next to the burning home stood the cloaked man that had destroyed Raine's statue the day before-hand. He held a lit torch in his hand which illuminated the diabolical smirk on his face.

"You!" cried Raine. "Did you do this?"

He waved his hand at her. "Yes but it looks like I failed in completing my task thus far."

"What?"

"Heh. You and Mr. Bryant over there are supposed to be dead."

Myra stomped her little foot and yelled, "What did you do to my grandma?"

He laughed. "It's not what I did to her. It's what Mr. Bryant didn't do for her."

"Huh?" she asked, confused.

Although Regal wouldn't say anything to defend himself, Raine wasn't about to let the man tell a lie. "Don't you dare!"

He pitched his torch into the burning remains of the house. "Little one, your friend "Mr. Regal" could've saved your grandmother… but he didn't."

Everyone gasped when they heard this. The devastated Myra turned to Regal, a heart-breaking look on her face. "M-Mr. Regal?"

Regal lowered his head and said nothing. Not fully knowing what was going on, Raine leapt to Regal's aid. "Don't believe him Myra. I'm sure Regal did everything in his power to help her. He wouldn't just let her die. Right Regal?"

Nothing.

"Regal?"

The man laughed. "See? Guilty as charged!"

"Myra…" said Regal quietly.

"Hmm? What's this Mr. Bryant? Trying to make excuses? Heh." He laughed again and spit on the burning house.

"Myra… your grandmother…" He opened his eyes and kneeled down in front of Myra, looking straight into her eyes. "Your grandmother asked as to take care of you. She asked me to save you instead of her."

Tears filled Myra's eye as she fell to her fragile knees. "G-grandma…"

"Hmph. Whatever," said the man as he drew a blade. "Just gotta finish what I started!"

Seeing the sadness in Myra's eyes filled Regal with an instant desire to fight the man that had caused her so much pain. "Raine, protect her!" he yelled as he made an amazing leap that landed him on the same roof that the man was standing on. He looked the man in his cold, stone-like eyes. "You'll pay for your crimes!"

"Ha! Unlikely, Master Bryant!" he replied back in a very eerily upbeat way. Wasting no time, he immediately lunged for Regal who just barely managed to dodge in time. With an immediate counter-attack, Regal tried to deliver a swift kick to the man's head but his attack was halted when his right greave connected with the man's blade. The two stood nearly motionless as they struggled to overpower the other person. "Heh, is that all you've got Bryant? Without your hands, you're nothing!"

Regal gritted his teeth as he struggled. "Don't be so sure!" With that, he brought his left leg up and delivered a powerful kick to the man's side, sending Regal to the "ground" and the man tumbling off the roof. Wasting no time, Regal quickly stood up and crossed his arms across his chest and moved to the edge of the roof. "It's over!" He placed his feet together and jumped off the roof toward the fallen man, trying to implement his body in a fashion similar to that of a drill.

Thinking quickly, the man rolled out of the way, causing Regal to crash into the ground. Before he could fully recover, the man slashed at Regal, luckily leaving only a shallow cut across his chest. "Ha!"

Regal stumbled backwards. "Damnit. It appears that he has at least some level of skill."

The man smiled. "Mr. Bryant, I'm disappointed. Are cheap tricks the only thing you have to offer me?"

"Regal!" yelled Raine.

The man turned to Raine and pointed his blade. "Hush woman. You're next."

A small beam of light crashed into his side shortly after he finished speaking, sending him to the ground. It wasn't that the beam had done so much damage to the man, rather, he was just taken by surprise and had lowered his guard, thus allowing the opportunistic attack that sent him to the ground. "Ahh, what the hell?" He got up and saw that Myra was standing not far from him. "What?"

She tightly clenched her little fists, tears still streaming down her face. "That was for grandma! And you better not hurt Mr. Regal!"

The man took a step back and dropped his sword. "W-what? How can she do that? She's nothing more than a spawn of Cruxis!" His eyes opened to their fullest when an idea came to him. "Unless… she is- gah!"  
He clutched his pain stricken shoulder a mere split-second after two crossbow bolts struck him. Snapping out his slight daze, he could see that a number of half-elven militia-men armed with crossbows were positioned just behind the angel. He spat and pulled the bolts out of his shoulder. He hated to admit it but there was no way he could win this battle. "Hmph. Looks like you get to live another day, Miss Sage." He leapt back up to the rooftop, narrowly dodging another volley of crossbow bolts as he did so. He turned back to everyone below and waved. "The name is Janus. Don't forget it! Half-elves, your time on Symphonia grows ever shorter! Enjoy it while you can!" Having said that, he leapt into the air and a bright light emitted from him. When everyone could see again, they gasped in near horror when they saw a pair of gray spectral wings carrying him into the sky. The militia-men took a few more shots at him but nothing connected with the man known as Janus.

Raine stood up and ran over to Regal. "Are you okay?" she said as she gingerly placed her left hand on Regal's cut.

"He had pointed ears," said Regal calmly.

Not letting her glowing hand leave his cut, she looked up at him with astonishment. "W-what?"

"When we tried to overpower each other, I managed to catch a glimpse of what was under his hood. He had pointed ears."

"But…" She paused and thought for a moment. "…if he's out to kill the half-elves, then…"

He nodded. "He must be a full-blooded elf then."

Raine closed her eyes and shook her head. "I don't believe this. I know that the elves never liked half-elves but they've never actually sought to destroy us like the humans have. What is going on?"

Tears still in her eyes, Myra ran over to Regal and hugged his leg. "Mr. Regal, are you okay?"

He nodded. "I'm fine, but Myra…how did you make that beam of light?"

She looked up at him and shook her head. "I… I don't know."

"I see…" Regal turned to the burning ruins of the house and joined everybody in watching helplessly as the fires continued to burn.

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"Are you sure you should go Lady Raine?" asked one of the half-elves.

She nodded. "No matter where we go, we won't be safe. If we leave Luin, perhaps this Janus will leave all of you alone."

"But Lady Raine-"

"No buts," she said with a smile. "Don't worry. We'll be fine, especially with Regal protecting us."

Regal said nothing but Myra hugged his leg again. "Yeah! Mr. Regal is so brave!"

Raine laughed. "Besides, we're going to head back to Altamira. We lost all of our supplies in the fire except for Regal's greaves and our wing pack. Also, we're going to see if we can find out anything about Janus."

The half-elf nodded. "I see… and what of little Myra?"

She looked down at the smiling angel. "According to Regal, her grandmother asked us to care for her. I'm not sure how we'll go about doing this, but perhaps we'll figure out something once we reach Altamira."

The half-elf nodded. "Well, I guess we can't stop you then. All we can do is wish you good luck, right?"

She nodded. "Right."

He nodded and began to walk away. "Farewell Lady Raine, Master Regal, Myra! May the goddess watch over all of you!"

The group turned to the open fields surrounding Luin. "Well, if we're going to use the Rheiards, we should find a fairly open spot to do so. Let's go you two," said Raine.

Regal and Myra nodded and followed Raine. Myra stopped at one point to look back at Luin. She smiled. "Watch over us grandma."

"Myra!" yelled Raine.

"C-coming!" said the tiny angel as she dashed towards her new family.

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Alright, a little over 3,000 words! Longest chapter yet for CtB. More mysteries, huh? The cloaked man is actually an elf named Janus? Little Myra can use both healing and holy magic? What the heck is going on here? O.o

Hope you enjoyed this chapter as it may be the last for a while. Why? See my profile o.o' Don't worry, I'm not giving up. Just taking a month long "break" to enter a competition. I'm not sure if I'll write another chapter before the competition but if you stay tuned to my profile, I'll let y'all know what's going on. Anyway, that's all for now. Thank you in advance for any and all reviews!


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